Microsoft Marketplace revamp includes strict partner rules

Microsoft Marketplace now comes with expanded opportunities for partners to develop AI-enabled apps and agents, however partners must navigate rules, agreements, operational requirements, and eligibility criteria to list and sell.

A number of special rules have been added within the Microsoft Publisher Agreement 8.0 that will cover the terms and conditions partners need to follow depending on what they’re selling and how they sell within the Marketplace.

Publisher Agreement 8.0 has been updated to include addenda that covers terms for specific offer types, go-to-market channels, the Microsoft 365 Certification Program, and the Microsoft Security Store.

These updates, which come in effect from 30 September, are part of the broader revamped Microsoft Marketplace, which brings together AppSource and Azure Marketplace.

“It is a seamless extension of the Microsoft Cloud, making partner solutions discoverable directly within the Microsoft products where customers work every day,” said Microsoft chief partner officer and CVP of global channel partner sales Nicole Dezen. “Solutions, apps, and agents are provisioned with the same governance and security controls that customers rely upon in the Microsoft Cloud.”

Marketplace is also expanding through its channel ecosystem. Distributors including Arrow, Crayon, Ingram Micro, Pax8, and TD Synnex have integrated Microsoft’s catalogue into their own marketplaces, enabling them to support their customers with solutions pre-configured to work with Microsoft Cloud.

“We’re also introducing a new feature, resale enabled offers, currently in private preview and expected to be broadly available later in 2025, designed to unlock more global opportunities for channel-led business,” Dezen said. “With resale enabled offers, partners with cloud solutions, AI apps, and agents can authorise their channel to sell on their behalf by geography.

“This authorisation streamlines scale and repeatability and can be adjusted or removed at any time.”

For channel partners, resale enabled offers open access to differentiated Marketplace solutions, Dezen noted.

When a solution is Azure benefit eligible, sales also count toward customer cloud commitments, allowing customers to unlock competitive pricing on Azure infrastructure and opening doors to larger, long-term deals that can span up to five years.

Preparing for change

To prepare for this channel-led opportunity, companies with an AI app, tool, or agent should get listed in Microsoft Marketplace. Channel partners are encouraged to enrol in Marketplace to obtain their seller ID.

These solutions are vetted for compatibility with Microsoft products, which streamlines implementation and accelerates impact.

Partners will also need to make sure they meet a number of operational requirements announced by Microsoft. These changes are designed to guide partners in helping customers across the entire technology stack – from delivering modernised technology stack to AI-powered operations.

To support these changes Microsoft has launched two CSP promotions to help partners to start and scale Microsoft 365 Copilot with customers. One offer is optimised for first-time adoption, while the other accelerates broad deployment.

The first, Microsoft 365 Copilot – Getting Started CSP Promotion, is aimed at new-to-Copilot organisations starting with a team or department before scaling.

This offer provides 15 per cent off the net partner price, with a minimum of 10 and up to 2,400 new Copilot licenses. The term is 12 months, and partners can add licenses anytime during the subscription term, up to the maximum of 2,400.

Billing requires an annual commitment, with annual or monthly billing available (monthly carries a 5 per cent price uplift).

Customer eligibility is limited to new-to-SKU Microsoft 365 Copilot customers transacting via CSP; tenants with any existing paid Copilot license, regardless of purchase channel, are ineligible.

The second offer, Microsoft 365 Copilot – ScaleUp CSP Offer (20 per cent off), targets SME and corporate CSP customers ready to scale AI adoption across the business.

This promotion provides 20 per cent off the net partner price, with a minimum of 100 Copilot licenses and a 12-month term. Partners can add licenses anytime during the subscription term. Billing requires an annual commitment, with annual or monthly billing (monthly includes a 5 per cent price uplift).